LIVE REVIEW: DEF LEPPARD With Special Guests EXTREME

Def Leppard finally rolled into Co-op Live on Monday night — remarkable, given the sheer number of stages this band has conquered globally, this was their first-ever appearance at Manchester’s newest arena. It was also their first Manchester show since December 2018, when they tackled Hysteria in full at the old AO Arena. With over 20,000 packed in, the wait was clearly worth it.

Extreme opened the night in blistering form, giving the Co-op Live crowd exactly what they’d come for. Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt covered every inch of the stage with a level of charisma and stamina that belied the decades the band has been doing this.

The set kicked off with “Decadence Dance” and “#REBEL,” immediately setting a high bar, before “Rest in Peace” kept the energy climbing. “Play With Me” arrived with a cheeky Queen intro, teasing “We Will Rock You” before dropping into the track proper — a nice touch that had the arena stomping along before the song had even started.

“Hole Hearted” and “Midnight Express” gave the crowd a run of pure sing-along rock, but it was “More Than Words” that stopped the room. Unsurprisingly, the ballad drew the biggest cheer of the set, with thousands of voices carrying the song’s opening lines before Cherone had even reached the mic — proof that some songs never lose their grip on an audience.

Shooting from the pit, the connection between band and crowd was impossible to miss. The energy Extreme brought to the stage was matched right back by the audience at every turn — a reception few support acts manage to earn this early in the evening.

From there, Bettencourt took centre stage in the most literal sense. “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee” gave him room to show exactly why he’s held in such high regard as a guitarist — fast, melodic, technically breath-taking, but never at the expense of the groove. “Get the Funk Out” kept that momentum going, injecting a shot of funk-rock swagger into proceedings.

“RISE” brought the main set home before the band closed with a run through Ozzy Osbourne’s “I Don’t Know,” “Bark at the Moon” and “Crazy Train” — a fitting, high-octane send-off that paid tribute to a genre icon while giving the band one last chance to show off as a unit.

As support slots go, this was about as far from a warm-up act as it gets — Extreme left Co-op Live in no doubt why they’ve endured for as long as they have.

SETLIST
Decadence Dance · #REBEL · Rest in Peace · Play With Me (with Queen’s “We Will Rock You” intro) · Hole Hearted · Midnight Express · More Than Words · Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee · Get the Funk Out · RISE · I Don’t Know / Bark at the Moon / Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne cover)

Extreme GALLERY

Def Leppard opened with the deep cut “Rejoice” before moving into “Animal,” “Let’s Get Rocked,” and a reworked cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.” What stood out most from the mixing desk was the crowd itself — whenever the older material came on, the reaction shifted noticeably.

There was a real sense of people being transported back, the ’80s tracks in particular triggering visible waves of reminiscence across the arena, as if the songs were pulling people back to an earlier chapter of their own lives rather than just being played for nostalgia’s sake.

The production matched the moment. The lighting rig was nothing short of spectacular throughout, and from a sound perspective the mix at Co-op Live was about as good as it gets — a genuinely faultless audio experience for a show of this scale.

The set continued through “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” “Switch 625,” “Just Like ’73,” “Rocket,” a David Essex cover (“Rock On”), and “White Lightning,” before the night’s clear highlight: “Slang,” which saw Nuno Bettencourt rejoin the stage for an extended detour through James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing” and Bowie’s “Fame.”

“Promises” followed with its a cappella intro, before the band closed out the main set with “Armageddon It,” “Love Bites,” “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph.” The encore brought “When Love and Hate Collide,” “Hysteria” (with its 1987–93 bass intro), and the inevitable closer, “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”

Four decades in, and on their first ever night at this venue, Def Leppard still know exactly how to turn an arena full of memories into one very loud collective one.

SETLIST
Rejoice · Animal · Let’s Get Rocked · Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode cover) · Bringin’ On the Heartbreak · Switch 625 · Just Like ’73 · Rocket · Rock On (David Essex cover) · White Lightning · Slang (with Nuno Bettencourt; interlude of “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown & “Fame” by David Bowie) · Promises (a cappella intro) · Armageddon It · Love Bites · Rock of Ages · Photograph

Encore:
When Love and Hate Collide · Hysteria (with 1987–1993 bass intro) · Pour Some Sugar on Me

Def Leppard GALLERY